So the boys are headed up to Syracuse, NY this weekend in, what I hope will be, a major lop-sided victory. They are pretty much the worst team in NCAA Div-1 Football right now. At the time of this post the Vegas is giving WVU 26.5 points. BWAHAHAHAHA.. sweet.

HISTORY

I almost forgot what happened to us in 2005, the last time we visited the Carrier Dome. That was the year WVU as a team was finding itself and that Syracuse almost shut us down. But you have to remember, that was the first game of the year for either team, Bednarik was our starting QB and nobody even knew who Steve Slaton was. I know I couldn’t wait to see the likes of Gwaltney and Bednarik light up the Orangemen and that isn’t what happened.

West Virginia overcame five turnovers to pull out a 15-7 victory at Syracuse in the 2005 season opener. A defensive touchdown and a safety provided the difference in the game.

A close one! Also, we can’t forget that we don’t play well in Syracuse, WVU is 5-8 in the Dome and overall in the series they lead us 30-24.

WHAT WVU NEEDS TO DO

Control the Offensive line.

Syracuse’s defensive line is one of the biggest West Virginia will face this year with Arthur Jones and Tony Jenkins weighing nearly 300 pounds. Backup nose tackle Nick Santiago is listed at 302.

This also means that WVU has to be willing to throw the ball when they can, and take advantage of the many opportunities we should have when the Orange aren’t blitzin’.

“They are not a heavy blitz team but they are not anti-blitz either,” Rodriguez said. “If they can stop you using some base defense and just crowd the box I think they will do that a little bit. They will change their coverage; what they have done this year, and what we have seen is that they have gone from an even-front traditional defense to an odd stack which is very similar to what we from our defense.”

We need to be able to handle their passing game and cover the deep ball.

The Orange have had seven plays of at least 40 yards this season and four have gone for touchdowns, which is a little alarming for an offense that is No. 113 out of 119 Division I-A teams in yards (272.6) and points (16.8) per game.

“The one thing we do expect and probably will see a lot is deep balls down the field,” Mountaineers Coach Rich Rodriguez said. “They’ve thrown numerous deep balls down the field, and not just big play-action plays. If they get a 1-on-1 matchup against man (defense), they’ll check to a deep ball. They’ve got some deep ball threats, so it makes sense. And they’ll hit a few of them.”

The most obvious of all: STOP TURNING THE BALL OVER!!!

We had the worst game last week turning the ball over 6 times. There is no way you can win a ball game when you just give the ball to the other team. We also need to keep our defense rested and ready. Last week, they seemed to be on the field for 59 minutes.

MILESTONES

• Steve Slaton could surpass an 88 year long record on Saturday. He can break Ira Errett Rodgers’ (who?) record for rushing touchdowns.
• Coach Rod is looking for his 100th win at WVU! GOOD LUCK COACH!!!

Sources: MSNSportsNet; Charleston Daily Mail

JWilson’s picks

Top 10

• #9 Florida over #1 LSU
• #2 USC over Stanford
• #23 Purdue over #4 Ohio State
• #5 Wisconsin over Illinois
• #6 South Florida over Florida Atlantic
• #7 Boston College over Bowling Green
• #19 Texas over #10 Oklahoma

Big East

• Louisville over Utah
• #21 Rutgers over #20 Cincinnati
• #13 WVU over Syracuse (52 -17)

MountaineerBob’s Picks

Top 10

• #1 LSU wins over #9 Florida - In a defensive battle - final score 10-7
• #2 USC beats Stanford - CupCake game of the week
• #23 Purdue shocks an overrated #4 Ohio State - The weakness of the Big Ten is exposed.. again.
• #6 USF crushes Florida International
• #7 Boston College beats Bowling Green - yet another CupCake game for a top 10 team.
• #19 Texas gets revenge on their neighbors to the north #10 Oklahoma

BIG EAST Games

• #13 (12) WVU shuts out Syracuse 74-0
• #21 Rutgers gets back on track against #20 Cincy
• Louisville beats Utah

I’ve read about 8 reports today about Pat Whites status for the Syracuse game on Saturday. There are reports saying it’s going to be a game-day decision, there are reports saying Coach Rod is prepping Brown and Bednarik to be ready for a start, there are reports saying Coach Rod is keeping his mouth shut and not commenting on Whites status, and still yet there are reports Pat practiced today and is quoted saying that “if you can practice on Tuesday, you can play Saturday.”

Who knows what will happen as the week progresses with Pat and his health. I think WVU will be fine no matter what happens. Of course, we would love to have him play and put up the kind of numbers he had last year against The Orangemen, but I think those boys are looking for someone to take out the frustrations of last Thursday nights debacle, so it won’t matter who the QB is.

If he does play, I want him to be 100% because it’s not worth blowing an easy game like this just to prove that he is healthy and can play. Forget the Heisman, we want need the Big East title now. That happened to us last year when a banged up White and Slaton took to the field against USF after a tough loss to Louisville, both injured. If he’s hurt, let him heal and put in Brown.. simple as that.

But you have to love Coach Rod’s answer when asked about Pats injury:

“If it’s [at] noon on Saturday, I’ll decide at noon on Saturday,” Rodriguez said. “If I decide earlier than that, he won’t know until noon on Saturday. And nobody else will, either.”

I think we’ll all know the answer by tomorrow.

Is it OK now? Have we all recovered, at least somewhat, from the complete and utter disappointment that was Friday nights game? I came down from my alcohol-induced hangover sometime Saturday afternoon, but it’s taken until sometime in the middle of my awful work day to finally come to terms with what happened at Raymond James Stadium.

Don’t get me wrong, I‘m still not completely over it. It was a rough night. I arrived at the “House That Dungy Built” geared up in gold and blue with a cooler full of beer and a heart full of USF hate. My buddy Robb, a WVU alum, had flown in from Nashville and we were ready to ride the Mountaineers impending massacre into a weekend of trash talking and pure West Virginia celebration.

Yeah, well we all know how that went. The good news, if there is any, is that there are plenty of moral victories that Mountaineer fans can take away from the game that seemed to be played to Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy”.

TAILGATE:
USF’s football program is nothing more than a blip on the radar. A hemorrhoid on the tail of Florida football, if you will. It’s tough to learn how to properly tailgate when you’re too busy jumping on the bandwagon, and it definitely showed.

The USF tailgates, not sponsored by radio stations or businesses, were few and far between and those tailgating were sampling the fine tastes of Bacardi Limon and other not-appropriate-for-tailgate beverages. The West Virginia tailgates, however, dominated the parking lots and thrived not only on quantity, but also quality. Here are a few of the proud. Click image to view full size.

USF FANS
It’s tough to really describe South Florida fans in a manner that hasn’t already been used to describe a boy band.
Read the rest »

The 2007 - 08 basketball season has official launched with the sale of new season tickets. They went on sale yesterday at WVUGame.com.

They are only selling NEW season tickets right now. The tickets cost $300 and are for upper level. Lower level tickets are reserved for previous season ticket holders. Here is a quick look at the schedule:

The Mountaineers will open the season at home against Arkansas-Monticello on Friday, Nov. 16, in the first round of the Legends Classic. BIG EAST schools visiting Morgantown will be Georgetown, Pitt, Marquette, Syracuse, St. John’s, Cincinnati, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Providence. In addition to Arkansas-Monticello, Prairie View A&M, Maryland Eastern Shore, Winthrop, UMBC and Duquesne will visit the Coliseum in non-league action.

This is going to be an exciting year for the Mountaineers with a different style of ball coming in our new coach Bobby Huggins. Hopefully, he can put together a team like we’ve had the past few years.

What a crazy weekend of college football. As much as I hate what happened to my Mountaineers on Friday night, I still love weekends like this. It just proves to me once again that college football is the best sport in the world to watch and be a fan of. It’s unpredictable, exciting, intense and heartbreaking… all at the same time.

I know we are all reelin’ about Friday, but at least we weren’t the only team this week that got upset. Five of the top 10 (AP) lost this weekend.

• Oklahoma lost to an unranked Colorado
• Florida lost to an unranked Auburn (which makes the USF win over Auburn look even more impressive)
• WVU lost to a #18 Ranked USF (the only team to lose to a Ranked team by the way)
• Texas lost to an unranked Kansas State (by 20 points!!!)
• Rutgers lost to an unranked Maryland (the same MD team that WVU beat easily)

It just goes to show that it’s really hard to make it through 12 games without a bump in the road. Coach Rod said it best in an interview after that crappy ass game Friday:

“I have always said that 18-, 19- and 20 year-olds aren’t always going to have great performances,” Rodriguez said. “For whatever reasons sometimes they are just not sharp. We certainly weren’t very sharp offensively. We made more mistakes in that game than the other four combined. It’s kind of baffling but after today we’ll get it corrected and move on.”

And that’s really all we can do.. Move On. Syracuse is up next with a much needed Bye Week. Then, we have to kick it into high gear with the last 6 games.

I personally don’t think USF will be able to run the table. USF will need to amp it up against Rutgers, Cincy and Louisville if they want to win those games. Their offense really didn’t play well.

When I think back to the game, it seems we beat ourselves more than USF beat us. Turnovers and bad snaps killed us. What do you guys think? What da world happened? What went wrong? We miss you Mozes!!!

I’m not gonna lie- I was pretty darn torn up about the game, but for obvious reasons. Afterwards, there I sat, thinking about what had just happened, how they had just lost, and what, exactly, they had just lost. I’ll also admit that I was pretty bitter. Was.

I’m ashamed to admit that the only thoughts going through my head were that we were no longer winning a Big East title, and we were no longer in the running for a National Championship. But as I woke up this morning and grabbed my clock only to see it was 6 a.m., a few different thoughts were running through my head.

I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I started analyzing the game, trying to recall when it would be aired again so I could sit and watch, and again have that bitter feeling that only Mountaineer fans know after a lost. But for the first time in a long time, I started thinking about the boys. Not just the team, but the individuals on it, and a few things hit me.

These boys are my age. We place them on such a pedestal, expect so much out of them, and here they are, 19-, 20-, 21-year-old kids out there on the field playing the game that they love, having fun while they do it, and trying to win a few games in the process. Donors contribute thousands, even millions, to see them compete nationally, and they do so every week. Kids my age. So much rests on their shoulders, and the only thing I’m worried about is my athletic training practical next Thursday. They get tested every week on national television, while all I have to do is worry about one professor standing over me. Not only are these guys expected to excel on the field, but also in the classroom—and college ain’t easy.

All of them are students first. Their parents sent them to West Virginia University to get the best possible education. For some of them, playing football will be their career. But for most, what they do after college will depend, just like me, on getting a degree.

And so, as disappointed as I am about the loss, I refuse to be disappointed in the team. They played their hearts out, and obviously things didn’t go their way. But the season is not over, the Big East title has not been handed out, and, cough cough, last year’s National Champ also had one loss…

So as we continue to support our team, and support our boys, just remember this: where there is Mountaineer football, there is hope.

Ha Ha Ha, Love that he gave this to USF, so far he has been 0-3 in his pep talks. Gueschsssh the guyzzsch aren’t lischenting.

Keys to victory for WVU

• Get ahead quick. Anytime you play an overrated team it is necessary to get ahead early to keep them from building any confidence.
• Establish the passing game in the first quarter. USF will come out with as many as they can cram in the box, and play man to man behind it. They have mentioned several times this week that their defensive backs are better than our wide-outs, make them prove it early and spread the field vertically.
• Use experience to beat the hype. With WVU having two of USF’s former coaches and with tons of experience in big games, act like you’ve done this before and come out with a victory.

Keys to victory for USF

• Force WVU to pass the ball by putting eight in the box and shutting down the run.
• Play assignment football. This is a staple vs. any good spread option offense.
• Use WR height to your advantage. USF’s wide receivers must use their height as an advantage, especially in the red-zone.
• Keep the crowd in the game. WVU relies on audibles from the line. If this is really, “The Game of the Century” then do whatever it takes to keep the crowd in the game, for the whole game.

Couchburner sent me this article today and it finally looks like the media’s opinion is changing about the Mountaineers Defense.

Today on Rivals Radio, Bill King talked to Jim Laise from WVSports about how much better the defense looks this year. Laise pointed out that Eric Wicks was recently moved to a new position and, BAM!, that changed the whole dynamic of the D. Since then things have been clicking. The D has something like 14 sacks in 4 games. Last year it took us 4 games to get just one.

Also, I found this great summary on MSNSportsNet about how the D is shining. Check out our rankings… damn impressive:

A look at the rest of the numbers so far this season only shows a brighter picture. West Virginia ranks No. 20 in scoring defense (17 points per game), No. 19 in rushing defense (87 yards per game and 2.6 yards per attempt), and No.15 in total defense (273.3 yards per game).

This Friday is the biggest test for WVU on both sides of the ball. I predict they will perform in a “Poll Raising Fashion” and the anti-Big-East-Poll-Voters will not be able to ignore us anymore. I can’t friggin’ wait!

SIDENOTE: If your in Pittsburgh and looking for a WVU friendly place to watch the game, check out UGLY’s. The WVU Alum chapter in Pittsburgh meets there for every away game.